LABOUR NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 264, 6 November 1937, Page 15

LABOUR NOTES.

UNION ACTIVITIES. — — (By INDUSTRIAL TRAMP,) r % UNION MEETINGS FOR THE WEEK. Monday, November B.—Painters. Tuesday, November 9.—Storemen, Fellmongers. ' Wednesday, November .10.—Auckland Car-pente-rs. A SECOND COURT. An event of moment this week to the industrial section of the Dominion was the introduction in the House of Re pre- • eentatives of the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Amendment Bill (No. 2), the main feature of which is to provide an additional Court of Arbitration in order to relieve the congestion of • work that has been piling up for many months. It is only intended as a temporary measure, as the new Court will act for "a period not exceeding twelve months," after which, it is anticipated, the press of work will have been overtaken and disposed of. The bill authorises the appointment of s Judge of the Supreme Court, with additional nominated members representing employers and employees to sit with him. The nominated members on the Ore sent Court are appointed on the recommendations of the unions of employers and employees respectively, but in this bill, owing to the temporary nature of the appointments, and also because of the need for haste, the members of the second Court will be nominated by the Minister of Labour. The two Courts are to be entirely separate, and their members will not be interchangeable. I am anticipating that the work will also be kept separate, as in the event of both Courts, one sitting in the south and the other in the north, adjudicating on disputes in similar industries, it would be quite possible to have dissimilar findings. To avoid that, one Court can deal with major disputes, while the other would have its time well occupied in settling such items as adding parties to existing awards and other minor matters. One very vital matter to unions dealt with in the miscellaneous provisions of the new bill is the citation of parties to a dispute. Under the provisions of the old Act when an industrial dispute is created every employer who is in business in the industry affected at the date of the citation must be included on the application form along with his address, so that he may exercise his right to be present or represented at the initial Conciliation Council proceedings. Presidents of the Court have ruled this. If not so included, the employer ean not be cited for a breach of the resultant award until he has been formally added as a party to that award, may be si* or nine months afterwards. In some of the big industrial disputes thousands of employers' names, with correct addresses, have had to be collated and set forth on the application form when filed. It is very easy for several employers' names to be overlooked. In the new bill the procedure is greatly simplified by provision for the citation merely of the industrial unions and associations of employers, so that where an employer is not a member of his employers' association or union, he is simply ignored (as all non-unionists ought to be), but will have to obey the award when it is declared. Another important advance made Aft thU bill is that relating to Mcing L '£}uhA clubs, who >>.pot"tT*en .yaubject to awards. 'List en nig-vin to the Minister of Labour when introducing this bill id ' the House on Thursday afternoon, I heard Mr. Armstrong say: "The present method was very cumbersome, and the new arrangement will be welcomed by organisations of both workers and employers. There was a certain amount of argument last year regarding the application of awards to organisations which do not employ labour for pecuniary gain," he said. "We agreed to drop our proposal then, as it might have caused a certain amount of hardship, but it is now proposed to make racing clubs, trotting clubs and chartered clubs subject to awards. They can well afford it." The bill wm read a second time and referred to the Labour Bills Committee.

THE CLOSURE. Last week I had the experience of listening-in vo the House in a debate in which the closure was applied for the first time this session, and it wu nearly as interesting and thrilling to me aa if I had been in the House to witness it. My readers will perhaps remember that the "closure," or "guillotine" as it ia alternatively termed, was brought into being in the New Zealand Parliament by the Coalition Government when it had a party in the House numbering 45 and the Labour Opposition party numbered 24. The reason given for its introduction was "to check stonewalling and useless obstruction tactics." When the Government was defeated in 1935 they went out of office leaving this effective weapon against a determined minority all ready for future use. When the Labour Government came into power, and the numbers of the parties were reversed, it was only natural that they ahould use the weapon made for them for the same purpose when required, and so it was used last week. The party now in Opposition protests against thia weapon being used against them on the ground that it is used "to prevent a fair discussion." To those who ar? not familiar with Parliamentary procedure it may be mentioned that after a measure ha«. been declared an urgent matter the Prime Minister, when satisfied that the matter has beep sufficiently, debated; or that there aw eigns of an organised stonewall in progress, can rise and move "TSat the question be now put," and the vote is taken without further discussion.. That is all. This "closure" is often applied in union meetings or any other -meeting that claims to be governed by Parliamentary procedure. In the House the procedure k more formal and dramatic. As soon an the motion is moved, the stentorian order is given, "Lock the door#," and those who are in cannot go out, while those who are out cannot come in until ' the division is taken. However, the I doors are not locked until the bells in I every part of the building have been .rung for five minutes in order t9 summon members to their duties. When the numbers are announced, the doors are unlocked, . the nyct item ia preoceeded with, and the thrill and excitement subsides. • - • 'V